Hyperuricemia refers to a state showing a high level of uric acid in blood, which is caused by decreased uric acid excretion and excessive uric acid production due to a genetic factor or an environmental factor. Hyperuricemia is known to cause complications represented by gout as well as renopathy, urinary calculosis and the like. It is said that 5 million people are at risk of developing gout across Japan at present, and the peak of the age of onset is becoming earlier from 50's in the past to 30's, and prophylaxis and treatment of hyperuricemia is drawing attention.
The prophylaxis and treatment of hyperuricemia is performed by controlling blood uric acid level by a combination of life guidance (elimination of obesity, diet therapy, restriction of alcohol intake, avoidance of excessive motility, stress reduction) and medication therapy. Improvement of life style by life guidance affords an effect of improving hyperuricemia; however, control of life style for a long term is not easy. When a mediation therapy is necessary, blood uric acid level is controlled by a doctor. When the symptoms of patients who do not require mediation yet are to be improved by life guidance, a method of decreasing absorption of purine body into the body by decomposing the purine body in the intestine by oral ingestion of microorganism such as lactic acid bacterium and yeast that decompose purine body, and the like to the patients has been reported as a life guidance aiding method (patent document 1). Lactic acid bacterium is a microorganism widely utilized from long ago for foods such as yoghurt, pickles and the like, and pharmaceutical products, and there is only a little concern about side effects even when ingested for a long term. Therefore, ingestion of lactic acid bacterium can be a useful method for the prophylaxis or treatment of hyperuricemia.
Fatty liver is a state of excessive accumulation of fat in the liver, and medically indicates a state wherein fat vacuoles are found in not less than 30% of the hepatocytes in the liver. Fatty liver is largely divided into alcoholic fatty liver and non-alcoholic fatty liver, and 12-36 million people are said to have developed non-alcoholic fatty liver or steatohepatitis in Japan. The cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver includes, for example, obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, malnutrition and the like. Fatty liver scarcely shows subjective symptoms, and an early treatment is necessary since transfer to hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer has been reported.
For prophylaxis or treatment of fatty liver, cutting down on drinking and abstinence are most effective for alcoholic fatty liver, and improvement of life style by diet therapy, motility therapy and the like is necessary for non-alcoholic fatty liver. Particularly, non-alcoholic fatty liver caused by diabetes also requires medication therapy. While improvement of life style is effective for the prophylaxis or treatment of fatty liver, it is not easy to improve irregular life style, unbalanced diet and lack of exercise. Therefore, a safe and burdenless method for supporting improvement of life style is desired. Heretofore, an agent for the prophylaxis and/or inhibition of fatty liver by lactic acid bacterium with less concern about side effects has been disclosed (patent document 2).
However, the lactic acid bacteria disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents are separate lactic acid bacteria each having the function of a serum uric acid level reducer or agent for the prophylaxis and/or inhibition of fatty liver, and a lactic acid bacterium concurrently having a function to improve hyperuricemia and fatty liver has not been reported yet.